Stop #11: Transylvanian Cuisine Reminds Me of Family

I had been anxiously awaiting the week I would finally get to go to this next truck - Delicios, A Taste of Transylvania - not because I have a great love for the food of central Romania, but because I had no idea what the heck would be on the menu (not that I was expecting anything blood themed - yes, I so went there.)

On that note, it IS interesting that the truck is red and black....  But any illusion to the infamous count and his hankering for the sanguinary ended there.  The menu was populated with dishes that are very Eastern European in their influence (well, duh!)  including foot long hot dogs and sausages in what look like bagel buns, as well as schnitzel.  When I asked the woman cooking what she liked most on the menu, she recommended the stuffed cabbage.

My decision was made, hands down.  My grandmother used to make stuffed cabbage.   She would stuff the cabbage leaves with ground lamb and rice, served with a dried apricot sauce that was TO DIE FOR.  The nostalgic romantic in me wants to say she groud the lamb by hand, but I think I am totally making that up.  Anway, I hadn't had stuffed cabbage in YEARS!  It was on.

While the food was being prepared by the man who was working in the truck, the woman who had taken my order unwrapped one of their chimney cakes, took a pair of scissors and cut off a little bite for each of the people waiting.  First off, this is one of the things I have come to love most about the food trucks - these extra little gestures of generosity and connection (and salesmanship) by the entrepeneurs who are serving you.

Stock Photo of Chimney Cake

Also, the chimney cake was YUM-MY!  I don't really know how to describe it - like a donut and a croissant had a love child.  Flaky, sweet, dense.  And fashioned like a chimney or a very large (and edible) cuff bracelet.

When my food was ready I was handed a large and very heavy container, which I took back to my office.  Three large stuffed cabbage pieces, filled with spiced chicken and rice, plus creamy polenta topped with cheese and sour cream.  Ah, Eastern European Cuisine - all white, red and yellow with no green to be found anywhere nearby.  You can feel your arteries hardening just looking at it:

So Much Food.....

All that being said, it was delicious.  Not exactly how my grandmother made it, but clearly homemade with fresh ingredients by someone who knows what they are doing.   Always fun to try something new and find out that it is actually quite familiar in the end.

Delicios!
Stuffed Cabbage with Polenta: $7.00 (+ Tip!)
-Accepts Credit Cards